In sharp contrast to the downbeat earnings reports from AT&T Corp. (NYSE: T) and SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE: SBC) this week, BellSouth Corp. (NYSE: BLS) today posted a 46 percent jump in third-quarter profit, driven by growth in its Latin American and long-distance businesses (see BellSouth Reports Q3, AT&T's Q3 a Real Puzzler, No Glee in SBC Q3).

The Atlanta-based RBOC reported a net income of $936 million, or 51 cents per share, compared with $640 million, or 34 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding one-time items, BellSouth earned 53 cents per share, beating Wall Street consensus forecasts of 50 cents per share. Revenue for the quarter rose 5 percent to $5.72 billion, from $5.43 billion in the year-ago period.

BellSouth cited strong growth for wireless services in Latin America, where the company added 1.4 million customers year-over-year, boosting revenues by nearly 19 percent to $588 million.

To learn how the rest of BellSouth's quarter stacked up, read the full story on our sister site, Boardwatch. — Jo Maitland, Senior Editor, Boardwatch